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Suzail
To properly answer your query, Karth, I must direct you to the map of Suzail found in the 2nd Edition Realms boxed set (specifically, on page 54 of “A Grand Tour of the Realms”). On many, many occasions I’ve sent “street keys” to TSR for various cities of the Realms, but because they make maps so cluttered, they usually get dumped (or largely omitted). So I’m using the boxed set map because of its keyed buildings, which allow me to locate features without a lot of “See a squiggle shaped like a flying banana? Well, about the width of my fingernail from it” nonsense. Find the warehouse of the oil and perfume dealer Ilmur Jhassalan (feature 73) and Blackgorgons, the tower of the wizard Baskor (feature 74). To the east of both buildings, defining the easternmost boundary of the ‘blocks’ they stand in, is a street whose northern ‘end’ is a Y-junction, and whose southern end is a T-junction. That street is Swordstars Lane. The Society for Stalwart Adventurers stands on the west side of Swordstars Lane, three buildings south of the Y-junction. In other words, it’s the L-shaped building five building-fronts ‘up’ from Jhassalan’s warehouse. The westfront-Swordstars buildings in between, by the way, are (going north from the warehouse): -- Vardrim’s (an always-full rooming-house for carters and crate-makers and warehouse workers, owned by the elderly, energetic, and irascible Bardra ‘Battleaxe’ Vardrim, who lives on its ground floor). Bardra has two sons in the Purple Dragons, who dine with her weekly, and ‘take care’ of rowdy tenants or visitors. Vardrim’s has a rickety back stair escape where many roomers grow edible plants, which several local low-coin girls use for concealment of sorts while entertaining clients (roomers who let them use “their” stretch of stairs get serviced for free). -- Jharko’s Coffers and Crates (a rat-infested firetrap of a decaying former warehouse now owned by the shrewd, miserly Ustal Jharko, who’s filled the place with secondhand strongchests, coffers, travel-boxes, crates, coffins, barrels, handkegs, and every other sort of sturdy container. He repairs them and sells them all for a copper under “new” prices (and buys such things, no questions asked, for about a quarter of new pricings). If one needs containers in a hurry, Jharko can provide. Most of his containers have hasps, but Jharko has few locks to sell. He charges VERY dearly for hinges and hasps, for those who just want to buy such hardware. Between Jharko’s and the next building north (Montalar’s) is the main cart-alley into the center of the block. Traffic to and from the warehouses is heavy enough to keep it clear of the usual refuse. -- Montalar’s Happy House, a popular local eatery. This dawn-to-dusk place shutters its windows every night and turns out diners “to seek drunken entertainment elsewhere,” as Bhaerusk Montalar puts it. Up until then, however, Bhaerusk, his four daughters, his wife, and her two sisters keep bustling, serving forth hot cider (except in warm summer, when it’s served cold), weak ale, weak but sweet berry wine (beloved by many thirsty workers in the area), and ‘happy helms.’ Helms are circular pastries about the size of a small man’s palm, pinched flat around the edges but filled with a fry-mix of ground meat, diced vegetables, and strongly-spiced brown sauce. They’re portable food, and can be bought hot and fresh for dining on the spot (the vast majority are sold this way, many of them sold right out a front window to hungry buyers standing in the street) or cold (cooked, allowed to cool, and put in a stoppered second-hand clay fry-oil jug or salvaged bottle, to keep) for eating at home, later. Helms are sold two for a copper, and most find them tasty and filling -- though many whisper that the strong sauce makes one buy thrice as much drink, and could conceal the taste of, say, none-too-clean chopped rat. The family Montalar lives on the floor above their eatery, and discreetly rents out apartments on the floor above. There’s also a cellar below, and folk murmur that jovial Bhaerusk Montalar rents out space in it for all manner of mysterious items, no questions asked. The cellar and the eatery both have rear entrances usually screened from view by heaps of discarded crates and a hanging curtain of runner-vines (edible beans) grown every year by the Montalars (their laundry lines adorn the gently-sloping roof of the building). -- Talarkgates, the once-grand but slightly decaying home of a retired wool- and ale-merchant who still engages in moneylending and property investments in Suzail. Umbran Daerith is elderly but in robust good health. He’s rarely seen out of doors before dusk (when his coach calls for him, to take him to this or that nobles’ feast) unless attending business at Court or in one of the clubs along the central Promenade where wealthy merchants talk trade and make deals. Daerith is hard-headed but mellowing as age creeps up on him, and is increasingly seen in the company of beautiful young ladies he hires by the tenday (it’s thought they spend less time in his bedchambers than such ‘ornaments’ usually do, but most of their time simply being his friendly chattering escorts). Daerith has many ties to Sembian trading-partners, and it’s widely whispered in Suzail that some of his beautiful lasses are really War Wizards, keeping an eye on him. The house is surrounded by a high, spear-topped wrought-iron fence, enclosing a narrow, overgrown-by-untended shrubs walkway all around it. Its name came from its builder and former owner, the long-dead merchant-fleet owner Indrith Talark. Guilds The guilds in Cormyr have far less power and wealth than in Waterdeep, and are far "friendlier" to authority. They operate only in Suzail and the lands immediately around it (on the southern or Suzail side of the Starwater River, plus Hilp but minus Marsember), thanks to the rebellious histories of Arabel and Marsember (most of the guilds have "factors" trade agents and observers in those cities, but no real power or organization) and the traditional resistance of nobles to anyone (even the Crown) "meddling unnecessarily" in life, customs, and matters befalling on "their" lands. Guilds in Cormyr do the following things: * Publicize a roster of members in good standing, intimating that all do work of the best standard, and agreeing that one member shall not hesitate to repair or maintain any item that is the work of another member (i.e. never telling a would-be customer: "Pooh! I can't fix THAT! Utter trash; hurl it away and buy one of mine!"). (Most guilds also secretly try to fix prices, by at least agreeing on a 'going rate' for certain goods or services that members aren't bound to, but will refer to when negotiating with clients. They do NOT have the legal right to set prices or even standards.) * Agreeing on "approved" glues, finishes, and other materials, and (when members desire) precuring such things in bulk so as to get discounted prices to members (non-members will be charged a markup over "standard street prices"). * Providing warehousing or materials storage facilities to members (most charters provide for immediate emergency storage for members who have been "burned out" of their own facilities, or otherwise prevented from using them - - and most guilds secretly provide one or more "secret locations" not officially owned by or linked to the guild for members to stash goods or themselves or apprentices wanted by the law for short periods, or being hunted by personal foes). * Maintain, with the agreement of the Royal Court, precise and public definitions of objects, sizes, and amounts used by guild members in their trade (so one man's "ferkin" or "ell" is the same as another's). * Support indigent former (retired) guild members, usually by a monthly measure of grain and ale and meat or fish, or a few coins in lieu (12 gp is the "monthly munificence" of The Guild of Coachlars, Carriers, Waymen and Locksters, but the Seafarers Guild doles out only 8 gp), or even by maintaining an "old bones lodge" (nursing home) for guild members (sometimes taking in non-members for stiff fees, to support the care of guild members who are charged little or nothing). * Providing moneychanging and moneylending services to members in need, at set (always lower than "stranger in the market") rates agreed-upon at guild meetings; most guilds also provide "secure" money storage for members, who often prefer such "silent" storage to banking coins with the Royal Court, where tax collectors can take note of amounts of funds specific individuals are handling. * Providing (and insisting on the presence of) guild members as observers when caravans arrive for fairs at Jester's Green or elsewhere around Hilp or "south of the Starwater," or ships unload at the docks in Suzail, to see what cargoes are arriving, in which containers, and intended for sale where and to whom. This allows them to see if Court-approved guild measures are being adhered to, have a day or so of warning about price fluctuations due to oversupplies "flooding the market" or shortages developing because expected cargoes didn't arrive, and so on. Guilds in Cormyr may also unofficially do a lot of other things, from investing members' profits to engaging in (or hiring others to perform) arson, vandalism, or theft against guild competitors or rivals. All guilds lobby against outlander peddlers or shipcaptains competing directly against a guild without adhering to the aforementioned Court-approved guild measures (amounts and sizes), and quite openly gather information as to who is trading in what goods, and argue before the Royal Court as to what guild shall have a say ("purview") over a newly-introduced good or service (e.g. are harnesses for additional draft animals that are designed to be easily hitched into, or linked with, the harnesses worn by other animals already hitched to a coach or wagon properly to be administered by The Guild of Coachlars, Carriers, Waymen and Locksters, or by The Tanners and Leatherers?). Almost every guild charges its members fees, and its apprentices or would-be members higher fees than members are charged. The Royal Court must be kept fully informed of changes in these fees and of requirements for full membership, and Court officers aggressively investigate all complaints of apprentices or trial members being prevented from (or facing unusual difficulties in) acquiring full membership. The Crown prohibits non-Cormyreans, and Cormyreans of noble or royal blood, from being guildmasters; most guilds prohibit persons who don't own land in Cormyr from being guild members. Crown law prevents race or gender from having any part in guild membership rules. Almost every guild tries to control the professional behaviour of its members in some way, either through formal rules or through informal secret edicts and temporary boycotts (e.g. "No member of The Vintners and Falconers Guild is to trade with any member of The Brewers and Cheesemakers Guild until further notice from the Grand Hooded Vintner guildmaster"). Guilds are formed by successful petition to the Crown: a royal charter is granted that sets forth membership requirements, founding roster of members, rota of officers, and guild rules. It includes the grant of a badge or "device" to be used by the guild (not a heraldic grant of arms, though the Heralds do keep records of these badges, and may also separately grant arms to guilds who desire and pay for a grant). All guilds are required to keep up-to-date formal rolls at Court and in their HQ, recording all changes in membership, rules and fees, and in this case "up to date" means "must reflect all changes fully and accurately within a tenday, or face stiff fines and a mark of censure." Two marks of censure against any guild means an automatic War Wizard investigation of all guild activities, taxes, and finances; six marks means the guild charter is forfeit. Marks are officially rescinded after investigation, never automatically removed after passage of time. The Illegal "Guilds" I'm going to omit discussion of the Fire Knives and other nascent thieves' "guilds" here; such illicit organizations have traditionally held little power in Cormyr (outside of Marsember and small but frequent amounts of Dragon Coast smuggling). Craft Guilds I'm also distinguishing between "The Guilds" dealt with here and the low-profile local "craft guilds" found in every town and city in Cormyr (some villages have fledgling craft guilds, and those in cities tend to be little more than powerless bitching-societies). Craft guilds (a real-world historian might call them "merchants' guilds") are collectives of most crafters or shopkeepers in a particular place (rather than just those engaged in a specific profession) who try to buy materials in bulk to arrange lower prices and shipping costs, argue taxes down to a minimum, and seek to establish common working conditions (and thus eliminate "unfair advantages" gained by merchants who work family members, children they've taken in, and debtors they have holds over to near-slavery). Craft guilds tend to have names like the Benevolent Muster of Merchants of Eveningstar, and the Loyal Council of Coinfellows of Espar. The chief benefits of both craft guilds and "The Guilds" are social: members can swiftly spread word among their fellow guild members of prices, practises, swindles, and other news (cutting down on impostures, false rumors of shortages designed to drive up prices of materials, and confidence tricks), hear which journeymen are seeking new employment and which masters seeking new hires, and learn which apprentices have acquired real skills (preventing unscrupulous masters from never granting them recognition, by providing them chances to get hired away as a journeyman by someone else). In turn, novices can learn who's best at this or that specialty of guildcraft (the best knife polisher, the best toolmaker, the crafter whose work is most fashionable among lavishly-spending nobles, and so on). The Guilds These true craft fraternities (that is, organizations of workers engaged in the same specific profession or a small group of related professions) have been somewhat curbed in powers, hauteur, and fripperies (uniforms, secret handshakes, arcane festivals and rituals, and suchlike pomp) since their excesses during the time of the Tuigan Horde (said excesses including starting to pass their own internal laws and advise their members on which Crown laws to obey and which to ignore or openly flout, and closely allying with certain noble families who had their own treasonous agendas, in which some guilds participated for agreed-upon financial gain). The Bricklayers Guild, flourishing at this time, now no longer exists because it became a front for several noble families who enriched themselves (while they planned a coup to seize the Dragon Throne) through smuggling stolen goods and small valuables about the country, evading taxes, by hiding such items inside hollow bricks made by the guild. The Guilds have traditionally held little power, but were "feeling their brawn" (as the Cormyrean expression has it) just before the arrival of the Tuigan Horde, led by the aforementioned Bricklayers, The Sculptors and Masons Guild, and The Guild of Carpenters and Joiners. These construction guilds are now carefully law-abiding, but have learned the value of their work (from urban dwellers to wealthy nobles aspiring to live in ever-grander residences and erect ever-fancier follies, folk who want grand structures built must pay handsomely), and continue to be locally politically active, pursuing and guarding their own interests with passion and manipulative skill. "The Guilds" currently recognized in Cormyr, listed in rough descending order of influence, are: * The Sculptors and Masons Guild * The Guild of Carpenters and Joiners * The Armorers Guild * The Guild of Coachlars, Carriers, Waymen and Locksters * The Truebreeds Guild * The Seafarers Guild * The Vintners and Falconers Guild * The Brewers and Cheesemakers Guild * The Roofers, Thatchers, and Glaziers Guild * The Tanners and Leatherers Guild * The Guild of Weavers and Coopers * The Guild of Naturalists THE GUILD OF COACHLARS, CARRIERS, WAYMEN AND LOCKSTERS Guildmaster: Lady Guildmaster Sarissa Lathtyll (CG female human Exp3; the strikingly tall, beautiful, graceful, and soft-spoken widow of the guild's recently-deceased and greatly loved guildmaster, Tethaero Lathtyll, allowed to run the guild by the majority of elder members who didn't want any of three squabblingly ambitious junior members Maerynn, a coldly shrewd and grasping Sembian-sponsored coachlar; Malagar Tolluth, a fat, greedy Suzailan who wants to establish a hierarchy within the guild, with coach owners - - of whom he is one - - at the top; and Eskurr Valanth, a smilingly sly trader from Westgate widely {and correctly} thought to be a thief in the employ of certain criminals of that city to wear the Master's cloak, but now recognized as the hitherto-unacknowledged brains that guided Tethaero, and firmly supported by all except the cliques of the ambitious three; Sarissa has been wooed by Maerynn, but rebuffed him, defending herself with a coachwhip, in tales that are still making the rounds in Suzail, growing swiftly more lurid in the retellings. Headquarters: Tallgates House (Suzail, south side Promenade). Portfolios: locksmiths, wagon-makers and owners, coachlars (coach-drovers), carters (those who operate local delivery wagons), and draymen (deliverers and loaders, of ships at the docks, wagons everywhere, and Suzailan warehouses; "locksters" are the owners and guardians of warehouses). Badge: A white wagon-wheel (with eight spokes), displayed side-on, on a copper lone-point-uppermost triangle. Notes: Traditionally a guild of corruption (some members once regularly charged "surety" fees to make sure a client's shipment arrived unbroken, to the right place, and uninspected by business rivals) and ambitions to weaken the power of the Crown (so as to lessen both laws and taxes), the "Coachcowls" (as most of Cormyr refers to this guild) were sharply curbed by the War Wizards and certain Highknights in the wake of the battles against the Tuigan Horde - - whereafter Tethaero Lathtyll was installed by the members as Master, and set about trying to make this guild the most daily-essential and respected among Suzailans, building trust and purging corruption, a task he largely completed (with the covert aid of the War Wizards); the Lady Guildmaster's personal steward (and lover) is a War Wizard, though only she, of all the Coachcowls, knows this. THE TRUEBREEDS GUILD Guildmaster: Askalho Theer (NE male human Exp6; a fat, snarling glutton of a man given to scowling bombast, who dislikes anyone who disagrees with him, but is too lazy to pursue any purges of members or ways of making his own views more palatable and thus accepted, within "the Breeders" (as Cormyreans call this guild); rich food and drink, and comfortable surroundings to enjoy them in, matter more to Theer than anything else in the world, and he fears engaging in any real conspiracies or even overhauls of his own guild because unfolding events might then somehow threaten his comforts; nevertheless, he's only too willing to be bribed and 'used' by ambitious nobles seeking to weaken the Crown if not overthrow it. Headquarters: The House of the Bull (Suzail, south side Promenade). Portfolios: horses, oxen, sheep, cattle, guard-dogs, sheep-dogs: the breeding, care and sale of, and maintenance of the pedigrees of, all "kept beasts". Badge: A green triangle, horizontal across the top and with an elongated point at the bottom, on which is displayed a gray beast-leg (ending in a black cloven hoof, pointing to the outside) "standing" with the leg rising diagonally from the hoof at lower left towards the upper right, that "vanishes" as it passes through a gray "spiked collar" oval, slanted from upper left to lower right, and with the arc closest to the viewer at the bottom, that arc (only) displaying three blunted spikes. Notes: An often-fractious association of ranchers who breed, train, and sell livestock, this guild has bought Crown favour over the years by providing splendid royal mounts (to all Obarskyrs, and to important Court officials) as gifts, and by undertaking to keep "guarded in seclusion" (at various remote farms across the realm) breeding stock to regularly replenish Purple Dragon cavalry mounts and draft animals (which are ordered and paid for by the Crown, and are not gifts), on a "the needs of the realm come first" basis (which really means: don't sell any large numbers of animals to buyers in Sembia or anywhere else outside Cormyr without obtaining prior Crown permission); well-regarded by most Cormyreans, who see the splendid animals guild members provide, never the surly Guildmaster (who's privately considering breaking the guild rule Vangerdahast forced on his now-dead predecessor Belivaerus Daethul: that members of the guild would never attempt to crossbreed species nor make any use of magic enabling features of one beast to be added to another - - in short, to try to 'make monsters') THE SEAFARERS GUILD Guildmaster: Orthan Staramuranter (LN male human Ftr5/Exp12, a white-haired, white-bearded, gauntly impressive retired seacaptain who tolerates no "nonsense" which he means dissension, even slightly treasonous grumbling about conditions in the Realm, and any innovation: "Old Orthan" retains his legendarily keen eyesight, and can see not only for great distances over water, but also that the status quo enriches members of his guild, and shouldn't be shifted or unsettled in any way. Headquarters: Starsails House (Suzail, north-front Silverscales Street, across from "a few doors along east") the Black Rate tavern (feature 51 on the 2nd Edition Realms boxed set Suzail map). Portfolios: sailors, captains, fleet owners, navigators, mapmakers, ropers (the local name for ropemakers), sail-makers, shipwrights (boat builders) and ship repairers. Badge: A vertically-elongated oval of light blue, with a tall, tip-curving-to-the-viewer's-right central wave rearing up - - and a single eye staring straight-on (and calmly, this emotion suggested by the flattened top and bottom curves of the eye) out of the heart of the upper curl of the wave, at the viewer. Notes: Under Staramuranter's firm, diligent hand (the Guildmaster employs street youths and "eyes and ears," to confirm any information he doesn't trust, and is constantly trying to learn EVERYTHING members of his guild are up to - - not out of any maliciousness, but to protect his members and anticipate coming trouble whenever possible), this guild is courteous, guildrule- and Crown law-abiding, and cultivates a "trustworthy, stolid, reliable, no changes please" image that has led Suzailans to rely on it, and shippers in Arabel and even Marsember to send their wares to Suzail's docks for shipping, rather than through any other port; the only violence the guild condones is fighting pirates and salvagers (those who pick over shipwrecks): salvagers have been angrily, repeatedly, and often savagely (with alleyway and high seas slaughters) excluded from the guild over the years, despite their frequent attempts to join. THE VINTNERS AND FALCONERS GUILD Guildmaster: High Taster and First Gauntlet Lyonar Sorander (LN male human Ftr5/Exp9, a tall, white-haired, patrician man of sophisticated tastes, good manners, a splendid wardrobe, a neatly-trimmed white beard - - and a mind like the proverbial steel trap, shrewd and always alert and usually three steps ahead of everyone else in Faerûn; a consummate actor with a magnificent, mellifluous voice who seeks to persuade others to adopt his views, and wants to slowly, smoothly make his guild the most wealthy - - and most influential and trusted, by rulers and all who hold true ruling power - - guild in Cormyr). Headquarters: The Mastery (Suzail, south side Promenade). Portfolios: falconry, raptor breeding and trading, winemaking, vineyard-owning and -tending, wine blendings and sales. Badge: a triangle of gold, lone point down, with two joined scarlet spread (but curved in flight) wings inset "across its top". Notes: Traditionally the guild whose clients were almost all royalty, courtiers of exalted rank, and nobles, the "Winewings" (as Suzailans generally all them) are now making "great stacks of coins" (as one member put it) providing falcons and drink to swift-rising, wealthy merchants who want either to be noble, or to act as if they are; because the falconers and the vintners aspired to serve the same noble clientele, they were the first to join ranks and form a guild; their successes led to the other "anvil-and-flower" (we real-world types would say "chalk-and-cheese") combined disparate-trades guilds. THE BREWERS AND CHEESEMAKERS GUILD Guildmaster: Oldvruk "Old Buck" Faerahowe (CG male human Ftr2/Exp12, a fat, jovial mountain of a man with a witty tongue and a love of revelry that extends to holding guild meetings with a scantily-clad lass on either knee or entwined around him; is never seen without a huge tankard of ale in his hand or within easy reach; is a semi-retired brewmaster who makes VERY good coin each year providing Cormyrean royalty and nobility with what we real-world types would call "designer brews" for their largets revels: ales with special flavours apples, or cranberries, or woodsmoke sugar-sauce, or any of a score of odder ingredients obtainable nowhere else); views his guild as an essential service whose members can only prosper when Suzailans are happy and growing more numerous - - so if the Obarskyrs can keep the peace and the harvests are good, we all benefit. Headquarters: The Caskhouse (occupies a floor above a guild-owned tavern, The High Tankard center Promenade-front building in the block that contains Danain's hardware shop that serves only ales and cheeses). Portfolios: brewers and spirits blenders and importers, cheesemakers. Badge: A gray tankard (no handle visible, inward-sloping-to-top sides, capped with white foam) atop a wedge of golden cheese with a red rind, on an oval brown field. Notes: The Caskhouse often hosts drinking-revels (for members and one guest per member) that last several days and involve hired highcoin girls, much retching into buckets, exotic desserts, and unclad surfing tables (and down stairs) atop huge platters of cheese; the Old Buck has been shrewd enough to endear himself to all Suzailans by irregular, unannounced "processions" through several blocks of a Suzail street, handing out free samples of exotic cheeses and ales to everyone he sees (and by arranging with the Watch that anyone found starving in the streets during the hard months of winter is to be quietly brought to the Caskhouse for a "warm-up" meal of ale and cheese; and given a cloak and a sack of small cheese-ends to take away with them); so of all the guilds in Suzail, this is the one citizens will fiercely defend, no matter what mischief its members may do or trouble drunken guild clients may cause. THE ROOFERS, THATCHERS, AND GLAZIERS GUILD Guildmaster: Ullvor Mharivven (NE male human Rog2/Exp11; a thin, darkly handsome, prissy fop of a man much given to wearing maroon cloaks over high-booted finery more fashionable than most nobles, making sarcastic or cutting comments, and sighing theatrically when clients complain or members dare to disagree with him); he sees his guild as not having enough respect, and is planning exhibits (we real-world types might call them "open houses") to display spectacular stained glass windows and roofing trim ("gingerbread"), in an attempt to start new fashions (he's also busily spreading rumors that ghosts accumulate in old houses in Suzail, and can be banished by periodically renovating or tearing down and building anew). Headquarters: Hardshutters House (Suzail, north-front Market). Portfolios: roofers, slate-masons, shingle-cutters, thatchers and thatch-cutters, glaziers, "sandglass" makers, glass stainers. Badge: three disembodied (ending at the wrist) pink human hands, on a diamond-shaped field of crimson: a right hand at the bottom, situated vertically reaching for the center of the diamond, where it's curling its finger and thumb to outline (most of) an oval; while just above this oval, two hands (a matching left and right pair) reach vertically down from the top of the diamond, touch 'heels' together, and angle their fingers out diagonally downwards, to form a 'roof' over the oval. Notes: this guild is perhaps the most easygoing of all Cormyrean guilds, which means "often late for a job, or prone to vanish for half a day or even several days on end without warning or explanation," and also means that guild members are the most ready to work alone or with just one trained assistant, and readily "day hire" interested youths, oldsters, and layabouts (for roofing-work, NEVER glazier-tasks); Mharivven long ago hired a wizard to craft a spell that he can activate (by means of a finger-ring) to animate glass shards (from the inevitable window breakages of guildwork; useful shards and pieces are brought back to Hardshutters for attic storage, and salvage by members doing "crazyshards" leaded glass skylights and transoms): he can readily open an attic hatch when anyone breaks into Hardshutters, and unleash a whirlwind of glass shards equal in effects to a BLADE BARRIER spell. THE TANNERS AND LEATHERERS GUILD Guildmaster: Samvaert Holoathyn (NE male human Rog3/Exp10; a nasal-voice, stooped, slender "rat-like" man, soft-spoken and sidling, who dreams of rising to true power in Cormyr - - say, Vangerdahast's level - - by becoming the "all-powerful right hand" of a noble usurper, or of the infant Azoun V if no other Obarskyr or senior courtier is left standing; failing that, he wants to make himself and his guild rich and behind-the-scenes influential and investors in everything, through cultivating close ties with many powerful, energetic, scheming nobles) Headquarters: The Old House (Suzail, south-side Promenade; mansion that's an office only, not an active tannery!). Portfolios: tanners, leather-dyers, glovers, corvisers (boot- and shoe-makers), cobblers, harness-makers, battle leatherers (makers of leather armor and under-armor), trimmers (who sew leather "trim" to garments), weatherdarrs (makers of leather caps, hats, "deep-snows" leggings, and weather-cloaks), leatherwork repairers and alterers. Badge: brown barrel-mouth (black interior) out of which is pouring, in a widening trapezoid, a ribbon of glossy brown (leather) to fill the entire bottom edge of the white, long-vertical rectangular background. Notes: most members of this guild are hard-working, no-nonsense men and women who are far too busy to be mindful of anything more than their own (great) daily importance and worth to the realm; they make (and repair) many of the "daily essential" items, from smiths' aprons to footware to belts to hold breeches up and weapon-scabbards attached to their warriors - - but a few of the more successful ones are being encouraged by "Guildmaster Samvaert" (as everyone invariably calls him) to cultivate close personal relationships with various dissaffected nobles (which gives the guildmembers "airs" of importance beyond their station and wealth, and also involves them doing little shady deeds for the nobles, to curry favour, and so becoming "useful agents" of said nobles); it remains to be seen how soon these practises will take to end in disaster. THE GUILD OF WEAVERS AND COOPERS Guildmaster: Ahltoebur Maravillus (LN male human Exp14; a very smart, superbly controlled in face, voice, and reactions actor of a man who looks like a retired warrior, is actually both a cooper AND a weaver by trade, and is one of the most farsighted and shrewd-judge-of-folk people in all Cormyr; he prides himself on correctly anticipating what all of his fellow guilds, important Court and Crown personages, and prominent merchants and nobles will do, are striving for, and what's most likely to befall their plans; he expertly maneuvers his guild to be low-profile, "always there and always dependable," making as few enemies and as many coins as possible, useful to everyone but in no-one's way; he sees dark times ahead for Cormyr, from the direction of Sembia, and is quietly investing in properties and businesses elsewhere in the Heartlands). Headquarters: Wondercloak House (Suzail, south-side Promenade). Portfolios: coopers (barrel-makers), weavers, textile-dyers, garment-cutters, embroiderers, clothiers (sellers of garments), drapers (sellers of draperies and tapestries). Badge: a horizontal sky blue oval, and centered on it a side-on brown barrel with three black iron bands around it; protruding from both ends of the barrel (which are apparently open, though they aren't shown) is a wavy strip of mauve cloth, flaring at both ends and with elaborate tri-flower-pattern embroidery visible on its four corners. Notes: one of the busiest and wealthiest of the guilds, "the Weavers" are seen as fussy, timorous, short-sighted scuttling men totally devoted to their work; many of them really are (and a lot of the others are over-the-top flamboyant "artistes" of fluting language and effeminate tantrums) - - which is why they tend to send the large-handed, burly, grim-eyed, worldly-wise coopers to do a lot of their hard negotiating (for instance, with shipcaptains selling coffers of snails for use in making dyes), while the brilliant Maravillus remains in the background, keeping a "retiring" reputation and hiding his intellect as much as possible; he often volunteers information to the War Wizards and is regarded by them as one of the most loyal and useful men in all Cormyr, in precisely the same way as the War Wizards themselves are: he serves the good of the realm first, and the monarch second. THE GUILD OF NATURALISTS Guildmaster: Elmdaerle (NG male human Wiz4, sage: zoology, botany; a friendly, charismatic leader who is currently Cormyr's foremost expert on forest life of all kinds in the realm, and looks like everybody's idea of a kindly tall, gaunt, bearded and robed wizard of mature years but not yet aged and white-haired; Elmdaerle isn't quite as "soft" as he looks or acts, but does want to like people and think the best of everyone he meets; he's genuinely consumed by his hunt for knowledge, and hasn't a malicious or an ambitious bone in his body). Headquarters: Oldoaks Stair (upstairs in Elmdaerle's house: Arabel, encircled by a city block, directly between the rear wings of Vondor's Shoes & Boots 127 on the Arabel map on pages 46 and 47 of the Grand Tour booklet of the 2nd Edition FR boxed set and the various House Hiloar Warehouses marked 129 on the same map). Portfolios: medicinal, edible, lubricant, dye-source, and craft-worthy uses for plant and animal matter, either as distillates or solids (and all who work with such substances and associated research and vending). Badge: a staring white eye with a three-taloned yellow claw protruding out of it below, two brown wings (mirror-images of each other) projecting out of either side of it, and a light blue fish tail projecting out of the top of it, all on a shield-shaped purple background. Notes: more of a sages' debating society than anything else, this guild is being watched carefully (and infiltrated) by the War Wizards, to make sure its members don't develop handy murder weapons (poisons) that could be used against the realm (unless the War Wizards get them, and their antidotes, first), or take it into their heads to breed new hybrid monsters or "designer beasts" for wealthy nobles or any other such lunacy; thus far, its members tend to be dabblers and sages more than anything else, and to be working most actively on salves, lubricants, scents, and dyes for sale to merchants everywhere - - those who aren't really arguers and collectors of monster trophies (and hiring adventuring bands to bring back more of same); Elhazir (CN male human Wiz15, the semi-retired, urbane and handsome dragonhunting mage and owner of Elhazir's Exotica shop that's feature 122 on the Arabel map) and Adolphus (handsome, distinguished, aging LN male human Exp6 and drafter-of-laws-and-contracts, high-fees sage: astronomy and physical sciences at identifying metals, base minerals, woods, and plants, likes to be contacted at The Dancing Dragon tavern, feature 112 on the Arabel map) are both members, and have aided Elmdaerle in hiring adventurers to aid guild members in mounting materials-gathering (hunting) expeditions into the Stonelands and the Hullack Forest. THE SCULPTORS AND MASONS GUILD Guildmaster: Thaerevho Londurmaskur (LN male human Exp8; tall, bearded, grandly-spoken, impressive; grudge-holding, thirsts for power and respect, but hates unrest and perils to a prosperous Cormyr). Headquarters: Highstone Hall (Suzail, south side Promenade). Portfolios: stone work, statuary, quarrying, and all plastering, mud-daub, and waterproofing. Badge: inverted shield (arched top, flat bottom, curved sides) of gray stone-block border, field of maroon, gray stone fist (clenched human right hand, thumb and fingers towards viewer, wrist rising from bottom of border. Notes: Polite and no-nonsense, dislike arrogant nobles even more than Crown laws and nosy Crown officials (will work ever-more-slowly and VERY carefully for clients who annoy them), the guild that knows its true power more than any other, but is steadfastly loyal to the Obarskyrs for their striving to maintain a fair, prosperous Cormyr; contains many former Purple Dragons. THE GUILD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS Guildmaster: Ryze Halonder (NG male human Exp8; weatherbeaten, laconic, acts like a yokel but is a very shrewd judge of character and situation, and has grown vastly wealthy through astute investments and cultivating contacts among adventurers who can 'police' all who swindle guild members; seeks a just, well-governed, ever-more-prosperous Cormyr. Headquarters: Longbeam Hall (Suzail, south side Promenade). Portfolios: wood cutting, curing, staining, furniture-making and fitted carpentry and joinery. Badge: long-axis-horizontal scarlet diamond, on it a horizontal silver axe with blade down at right end, and clenched human fist (fingers and thumb towards viewer) clutching a thick iron bar that projects just a little from both ends of the hand, to form a hammer shape. Notes: Wealthy, energetic, "into everything" (like new styles of coffers, chairs, and stools) guild that's fractious; Halonder faces almost constant challenges to his authority from various "pompous fat little trumpet-mouths" (five or six very similar guild members who're always quarrelling among themselves, including Rarvor Telbrae, Haldon Mornhand, and Yaskel Daroun) who think they can do a better job, and see the guild as their road to nobility; most guild members just see it as their road to riches and a waited-upon old age. THE ARMORERS GUILD Guildmaster: Darronder Firebrow (LN male human Ftr8/Exp12; a tall, wide-shouldered, immensely-strong bull of a man of bristling white brows, growl-gravel voice, piercing eyes, and worldly wisdom, who always does what's best for Cormyr and has little use for prancing nobles or prancing anyone else, for that matter; a quiet preparer-for-disasters-ahead who keeps hidden caches of weapons and armor in many places about Suzail, guarded by Helmed Horrors that obey him thanks to a magic ring Vangerdahast gave him decades ago; Firebrow can tell at a glance where the weakest part of any armor SHOULD be, by design and normal wear (but not, of course, from hidden flaws or specific battle damage that's not outwardly obvious). Headquarters: Helmfast House (Suzail, north side Promenade west of the Court) Portfolios: armor and weapon-making, plus the making of tempered tools (from sewing needles to bell-strikers and tiny gears and cogs). Badge: a gray "scorn" helm (the local name for a bucket-shaped full-face helm that's bolted into one piece (no visor), but covers the wearer's head completely except a horizontal eyeslit connected in a "T" with a single central vertical slit from eyeslit down to the "chin" of the helm), face-on to the viewer ("staring" impassively at the viewer), on an shield-shaped, gray-bordered field of crimson. Notes: this guild is VERY closely watched by the War Wizards to prevent any noble from managing to equip a private army without the Crown knowing; members resent the scrutiny even as they accept the necessity for it: as one armorer grumbled, "Iff'n I take my wife to bed, it's more likely than not that some longnose wizard is spell-watching our every gasp'n'grunt. Just once, I'd like old Vangey to drop by, hand me a tankard of Proper Dark, and promise me no one'd be watching for the night. Just once, n'I could die a happy man!" members of this guild are VERY well paid by the Crown to make them loyal and to keep their rates high enough that every second merchant of Cormyr WON'T order personal suits of armor so as to gain the benefits of this guild's especial pride: building concealed weapons into armor. Temples Valkur’s Berth stands on Tholone Lane. On the map of Suzail (published on page 54 of the “A Grand Tour of the Realms” booklet, in the 2nd Edition FR Campaign Setting boxed set), Tholone is the short arc of street that bounds a block of buildings immediately to the north of the block that contains The Black Rat tavern (map feature 51). Tholone (pronounced ‘THOWE-loan’) begins at its western end in a moot with Nerester’s Run, and at its southern end in a moot with Silverscales Street (which the Black Rat fronts on). The large cobbled area between Silverscales and the buildings fronting on it to the north is occupied by drying-frames for fishing-nets, that double from time to time (when catches are unusually large) as overflow vending space for fresh fish. The block of buildings bounded by Nerester’s, Tholone, and Silverscales are all aging three-storey stone-and-timber tallhouses, in some disrepair. They house businesses in their cellars and street levels, and the floors above are divided into apartments wherein dwell dockworkers and ‘retired old salts’ who now eke out meagre livings as errand-bearers, spies, and small-illicit-item vendors. Most are owned by middle-class merchants of Suzail who seldom venture near their dockside possessions (sending around rent collectors each month, who are never accompanied by less than a quartet of bodyguards). Around the midpoint of the buildings fronting on the south side of Tholone is a gap or ‘wagoncut’ allowing traffic to enter the block of buildings bounded by Nerester’s, Tholone, and Silverscales (there’s another wagoncut onto Nerester’s, just one building north of the Nerester’s/Silverscales corner). The end building on the west side of the southfront-Tholone wagoncut is known as ‘the Black Rock’ because its dark stone is covered with soot from three serious fires. It’s a massively-built, beast-face-carving-adorned onetime headquarters of a long-defunct trading coster (the Tireless Eyes), and is now home to Murrock’s Fine Glass, a cellar glassworks with street-level shop above where sarcastic, scarred old Ildul Murrock and a dozen apprentices (including his three swift, efficient, fearless, sharp-tongued, and increasingly-restless-to-get-away teenaged daughters attracted the attention of some young and restless noblemen, though nothing has yet come of this) make and sell sturdy ‘everday’ glassware of stout construction rather than stylish beauty (glass net-floats, bowls, jugs, drip-tubes, and oil-lamps). The Murrock household and staff all dwell on the floors above, and make steady, comfortable coin. (Murrock’s wife died over a dozen summers ago of an unknown sickness brought into port that claimed almost twenty victims before fading out. Ildul Murrock devised a way to shape glass into a magnifying lens four years ago, and since then has been unable to keep up with a stream of covert orders from nobles and wealthy merchants whose eyesight is failing them; he usually makes ‘handglasses’ consisting of a round eye lens on a pierced-for-a-lanyard glass handle, and sells them for 100 to 120 gp each.) Unbeknownst to many in the neighbourhood, the Black Rock has a secret side-entrance (next to its garbage-heap) that leads down into a ‘second cellar’ south of the one occupied by the glassworks (another secret door connects the two cellars). This second cellar, the Berth, underlies the center of the block of buildings, a place customarily crowded with dock-cargo-wagons. Its ceiling is about fifteen feet below ground level, making it much deeper than the glassworks (both secret doors leading into the Berth open onto steep ramps descending into it). Harbour water constantly seeps through its glistening walls, even during winter freezeup, and is pumped out by the temple staff when it becomes more than three feet deep (the floor of the Berth is always covered by at least ankle-deep water, because no one wants to pump constantly, and because the flooded conditions keep roaches, rats, and other vermin away). Valkur’s Berth is furnished with several wooden benches that hang on chains from ceiling-rafters, walkways of raised stones (about a foot higher than the surrounding floor) connecting both entrance ramps with a central altar, and a floating raft of large, old logs lashed together in three layers to keep a railed uppermost platform dry (a storage-place for smuggled goods, temple offerings, and temple supplies). The altar is a square stone block graven on all four sides with the stormcloud-and-three-lightning-bolts symbol of Valkur, and a larger depiction of this device (a mosaic that employs gilded stones for the bolts) is on the south wall of the cellar. The south wall of the cellar has several secret doors opening into side-cellars used for goods storage and by the clergy as sleeping-quarters, and at least two of these are connected to buildings in the Nerester’s-Tholone-Silverscales block by crawl-passages that give into rooms inside those buildings, sometimes ascending through the walls to the back of a closet in an upper floor room. Like many old sailors and senior merchants of the port, Murrock (who knows many safe shipping voyages provide not only his personal prosperity, but that of Cormyr beyond what mere subsistence farming and logging would bring) is a faithful worshipper of Valkur. He provides space for the temple for free, and contributes the meals and comfort of its clergy regularly. Most clergy of Valkur in the Sea of Fallen Stars region believe they can only maintain their personal standing in the eyes of both the god and His lay worshippers if they go on voyages at least once a season. Many fall into the habit of exploring most of the Inner Sea ports, and often trade temple duties with fellow clergy of the Captain of the Waves. As a result, the staff of the Berth (one of the quieter but wealthier and more pleasant, if less ornate and socially prominent, temples of The Mighty) change often. They are usually three to five in number, and diligently serve sailors who come into port, comforting the lonely and bereaved, and caring for the sick, the injured, and the penniless. Although clergy of Valkur don’t advocate smuggling (especially frowning on trade in illicit goods, and being dead set against slavery), they see as part of their work aiding working sailors in avoiding port taxes and oppressive rules (such as any prohibition on visiting sailors entering certain areas of a city). Therefore, they often store (hide) smuggled goods, arrange ‘undercloak’ (undercover) trades, and provide refuge for sailors fleeing authorities. They never request payments for such services, but do accept them if offered, and captains who make regular use of the Berth’s help take care to reward its clergy well. As a result, the clergy found here are usually diligent, loyal to sailors as well as professed worshippers of Valkur, and maintain a large network of coffers and chests with hidden compartments, and cellars, back rooms, and upper-floor closets about the port area where such items can be stored. At least one Valkuran priest on staff at the Berth at any time (and usually as many as three) will know the secret passages, backrooms, cellars, and alleys of Suzail’s port intimately, and be able to signal (with whistles, patterns of tossed pebbles, and the like) for ropes to be let down in a dozen buildings, to enable fleeing sailors to get up and into rooms before pursuers catch them. It’s understood by sailors that the Berth isn’t to be used as a long-term home, and its clergy are not homemakers for lazy sailors or sailing old salts; the Valkurans provide emergency or short-term aid, not ‘a living’ for anyone who’s tired of going to sea. (Priests of Valkur DO try to put retiring sailors in contact with folk who can find a place and work for them, and also help to trace relatives and former shipmates for folk.) The wild-bearded, gray-haired old priest Amagar Warland, now quite elderly, came to the Berth three seasons ago and shows no sign of leaving. (The fact that two of Murrock’s daughters lionize him, feed him, and flirt with him outrageously might have something to do with that.) The flamboyant, full-of-tales old priest is now considered the head of the Berth, and is becoming known around Suzail. In the past, Berth clergy made the rounds of taverns trying to convince unhappy sailors to leave off drinking and come to the Berth for comfort; now, Warland need only thrust his head in and remind them of how many bells it is until the next service to get a roaring escort. Of course, Warland’s habit of spending his own coins on hiring low-coin lasses to ‘come around to the Berth’ to give kisses and cuddles to sailors probably influences more visiting salts than the still-vigorous old priest’s craggy, wildly-whiskered face. Warland is said to have found a sunken treasure ship somewhere in the shallows of the Neck one year, and made a vast fortune from it (coins that are banked in Suzail, which is why he now tarries there). Whether this is true or not, the priest seems to own several buildings in Suzail, to have some friends in surprisingly high places, and to never personally run short of coin. Another cleric of the Captain of the Waves who seems to like the Berth and serve in it often, though she always departs after two or three seasons, is the sharp-tongued ‘Storm Bird,’ the darkly beautiful Jalatharra Storn. Short-tempered, restless, and given to wild but short love affairs, she never talks about her past, but lovers report that her back and backside are a mass of deep, crisscrossing whip-scars. Jalatharra respects Warland and Murrock, but seems to think highly of few other men she meets, using them as lovers and then curtly telling them to begone. She does seem to yearn for something more than the stink of the docks, though, accepting almost every young nobleman’s invitation to a revel or a feast (and has sometimes even journeyed upcountry to various noble castles, to put on fine gowns and dance for a night or two). Clergy of Valkur fight against all use of slaves and undead in ship crews, and against slavery and ‘kidnappings to the waves’ of all sorts. They frown on (and covertly work against) any one owner assembling a fleet large enough to dominate the shipping of any large port or country, and are especially alert for attempts by rulers or nobility to covertly control shipping or goods prices by arranging “shortages,” and the like. Otherwise, they don’t approve of sailors working with rebels to overthrow any but the most naval-unfriendly rulers, and will never themselves knowingly aid such conspirators (Valkuran priests never help the malcontents of Marsember against the Crown of Cormyr). Clergy of Valkur disapprove of piracy in direct relation to how violent the particular pirates are to other sailors: those who slay, burn ships at sea with folk aboard, or torture prisoners and defeated foes will receive poor welcomes from Valkurans, whereas those who do as little violence as possible will be treated with friendliness. Some Valkuran oaths (with rough real-world equivalents given in parentheses): “By the wheel!” (Son of a b*tch! or Holy sh*t!) “Brokenkeel!” (Damn! or Sh*t!) “Storm at the helm!” (Bloody hell! or G*ddamnit, no!) “Drown!” (F*ck!) “Drown you!” means f*ck you or f*ck off “Safe harbour!” (Valkur aid you!) City Lights A few stationary high-up ones, or mounted on pulleys and chains, or taken away every morning, filled up, and brought back and lit at dusk (or when?) and hung up, as needed? If so, how good is the overall lighting? Just along the Promenade and the wealthy/nobles' neighborhoods, or - - ? Does the port "work" at night? And who does this? The Purple Dragons? Crown servants/special lamplighters? Or - - ?" Ed replies: Both. And some "lit candles floating in oil" hybrids, too. All of them in metal "cages" looking rather like the "coach lamps" of the fogbound London of Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, et al. These tend to be mounted on black cast iron brackets that thrust out from the streetside walls of stone buildings, are very good along the Promenade and in the area north of the Promenade and west of the Palace complex (i.e. the nobles' and wealthiest Suzailans' neighbourhood, where these lamps are almost all on freestanding metal poles ("posts"), fairly good down the east wall of the city (the barracks areas) and along the docks (so, yes, the port can and does work at night, when trade warrants, which is most of the time), sparse in the central heart of the city (where taverns and clubs tend to have door-lamps, and some major streetmoots we would say intersections are lit, and there's not much else), and darned near non-existent in the western part of the city (the slums and poor neighbourhoods, sometimes called "Darkstreets" as a result). Businesses fuel and light their own lamps (i.e. many of those I mentioned in the heart of the city), and these lamps may be of any sort and mounted any way; most are on pulleys and chains, and "drawn in" to a window with a long metal hook mounted on a wooden reaching pole, for filling (they must be GENTLY let go again, not left to fall and swing, or they tend to smash against the building wall on the backswing; local laws prohibit mounting lamps on wooden walls), but some are unhooked and "reached down" via hooked poles; VERY few are let down to the ground on pulleys and chains, because of recurring vandalism/pranksters/lamp thieves in the past. The inner wall lamps, Promenade lighting, nobles' district lamps, and port and barracks lamps are lit by hired lamplighters overseen by Crown officials (minor courtiers; there are enough of these to form lighting crews if the hirelings quit or are too scared to light particular lamps or all fall ill). These lamps are all of the "reached down" with hooked poles sorts, and are secured with safety-chains so they can't blow down from the hooks they hang from; the chains can also be unhooked by the poles from the ground, but are situated in opposition to each other, to keep the lamps from crashing down in even gale-force gusts. However, these Crown-overseen lamps (and the Crown pays for the fuel, lamp repairs and replacements, by the way; the hired lighters are paid for the lighting work only) are in daily practise almost always filled directly, by hand, by workers standing on platforms built atop tall wagons; to prevent thieves employing these wagons at night, these wagons MUST be locked away in sheds when not in use (and can, if permits are obtained, be used for roofing repairs, hanging signs, and other non-lamplighting tasks). Cloakmakers Suzail has dozens of importers who sell cloaks made in Sembia and Amn, and will alter them or add trim at a local shopkeeper’s (or walk-in client’s) request, or more often on their own, to try to create a stylish new look to differentiate their wares from everyone else’s. Many, many seamstresses toil in the poorer parts of the city altering and recycling (cutting down into other garments) clothing of all sorts, and there are at least four clothing shops on the Promenade and central-city streets immediately south of the Promenade that routinely dye and adorn all manner of clothes to make them flashier, to stimulate sales. However, Suzail has only one “known” high-class cloakmaker: Antheava Maeroara, who has an extensive second-floor shop above the premises of Harlthas Oamurburl, a custom boot maker, in Pendle Street (the two floors above Maeroara’s shop and workshop are the living quarters of rental tenants, mostly workers in the two shops). Antheava is a tireless, eager-to-please, seemingly ageless thin and supple woman who for decades has been a custom cloak designer and maker to the nobility and to all others with coin enough to pay outrageous prices for their cloaks (four times what a fine cloak costs elsewhere, and more). At all hours of the day or night she’ll respond to their entreaties for emergency repairs, cleaning, or alterations; scores of noblewoman adore her and consider her a “quiet” (close-mouthed keeper-of-confidences) friend. There has never been a breath of scandal associated with her; she’s known to prefer the company of women, and to gently but firmly dissuade all advances from clients or other nobles of either gender. Many Suzailan designers of other items of clothing or accoutrements have been touched by scandal, however, and the majority of these seem to deliberately behave outrageously (indulging in many excesses) to repeatedly gain attention and so gain notoriety. The undergarment-maker Haelaera Immermoon is perhaps the most currently (just pre-Spellplague) infamous of these. A sexually voracious lover of seemingly-endless fondlings and orgies with anyone and everyone (both genders, and many races and species, from snakes to orcs to drow), who seems to enjoy feeling pain and having some means of healing herself from even grievous wounds, she delights in all manner of salacious behaviour that usually begins with the “personal fittings” she demands all of her clients take part in. Most Suzailans either avoid her entirely or can’t afford her wares, or enjoy dealing with her but find her “exhausting, simply exhausting - - and you MUST hear what she made me do!” Haelaera is a young-looking, thin-to-bony, blonde human Aglarondan woman who seems never to sleep, or need to do so. Weather the War Wizards do use spells to clear major streets by literally blowing deep-piled snow out into the harbor, and frequently temporarily raise temperature to melt treacherous ice underfoot (though used rushes, "out" cinders, and the like are used as traction aids). Note that many cities, Suzail included, are ports that enjoy the moderating effects of the large bodies of water they are adjacent to.